The ten largest technology venture capital investments of Q1 2015

Article originally appeared in RealBusiness on 3rd June 2015

With the tenth largest deal during the first three months of 2015 totalling £17m, the period was a particularly active one for technology firms growing through venture capital investments.

UK and Irish technology businesses closed deals worth a disclosed £635m, from 133 transactions worth over £500,000, during Q1 2015. The figures, from Ascendant Corporate Finance, marked an 18 per cent improvement rate over the corresponding period in 2014 when it comes to value, and 56 per cent in volume.

The software fundraising space grew by 70 per cent in value and 112 per cent in volume, over 2012. The most active regions were London and Scotland, responsible for 50 per cent and 17 per cent of deals respectively – London’s share of VC money was 77 per cent.

On a city-by-city basis, 64 London tech companies received VC, 13 in Edinburgh and 10 in Dublin

The 10 biggest deals were:
(1) WorldRemit

Amount: £65m

Sector: Fintech

Investors: Accel Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures

Spending it on: Expanding US office and targeting more emerging markets

WorldRemit: The secrets to closing a $100m venture capital funding deal

(2) Farfetch

Amount: £58m

Sector: Ecommerce

Investors: Jose Marin, Fabrice Grinda, e.ventures, DST Global, Vitruvian Partners, Condé Nast

Spending it on: International expansion with new local language sites, opening new offices in global markets, fuel omni-channel growth and customer propositions including launching same-day delivery

(3) TransferWise

Amount: £38m

Sector: Fintech

Investors: Seedcamp, IA Ventures, Index Ventures, Valar Ventures, Richard Branson, Andreessen Horowitz

Spending it on: Open office in the US, Germany and Australia, double number of “currency routes” from 292

(4) Blippar

Amount: £30m

Sector: Video and augmented reality

Investors: Qualcomm Ventures, Landsdowne Partners

Spending it on: Expand engineering team and extend global reach of image-recognition capabilities

(5) Green Biologics

Amount: £28m

Sector: Agriculture technology

Investors: ConvergInce Holdings, Morningside Technology Partners, Oxford Capital Partners, Capricorn Venture Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Swire Pacific

Spending it on: Expand production, convenrt a Minnesota ethanol plant to make butanol and acetone

Read on to find out which other companies made the top ten, including one that helps you identify music.

(6) Worldstores

Amount: £26m

Sector: Ecommerce

Investors: Serena Capital, Advent Venture Partners, Balderton Capital, Goldman Sachs

Spending it on: Create an in-house fulfilment fleet to enable “1-hour window next-day delivery” of furniture to more than 90 per cent of the UK population, invest in the growth for Casafina, the WorldStores-owned flash sales membership-based platform

(7) RateSetter

Amount: £20m

Sector: Alternative finance

Investors: Woodford Investment Management, Artemis, Charles Peel, Ken Costa

Spending it on: Invest in technology and marketing, recruit new staff and maintain financial position

(8) Shazam

Amount: £20m

Sector: Media engagement

Investors: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, DN Capital

Spending it on: Support continued evolution and growth, build on the current 500m downloads and 100m monthly active users

(9) Greenroad

Amount: £18m

Sector: Fleet technology

Investors: Israel Growth Partners, Virgin Green Fund, Generation Investment Management, Amadeus Capital Partners, Benchmark, DAG Ventures

Spending it on: Invest in marketing, expansion of sales in the US and Europe and the continued development of products

(10) Deliveroo

Amount: £17m

Sector: Food delivery

Investors: Accel Partners

Spending it on: Launch in new UK and European cities, focus on hiring and marketing activities